Above Average Pittsburgh Pirates Blog

Pirates Re-Sign Casey Sadler and Angel Sanchez

Pitchers Casey Sadler and Angel Sanchez have both re-signed with the Pirates on minor league deals, this according to John Dreker of Pirates Prospects.

Sadler was drafted by the Pirates as a 25th round selection in 2010. The 26-year-old right-hander made his debut for the Pirates in May of 2014. Sadler pitched in six games that year with the Bucs, all of which came in relief. In April of last year, he made his first MLB start with the Pirates, replacing Francisco Liriano who was on paternity leave. Sadler missed all of this year because of Tommy John surgery. He should return to Indianapolis to begin 2017.

Sanchez was regarded as a pretty good pitching prospect when the Miami Marlins acquired him from the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013 as part of the Ricky Nolasco deal. Entering 2014, Baseball America rated Sanchez as the 16th best prospect in the Marlins organization. He struggled that year and was claimed off waivers by the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago White Sox and finally the Pirates. In his first full season in the Pirates system last year, he posted a 2.69 ERA with a 1.13 WHIP in 23 starts combined with Altoona and Indianapolis. Just like Sadler, Sanchez didn’t pitch at all in 2016, as he too was recovering from elbow surgery. He’s likely to be back with Indianapolis to start out next season.